Modifications to the Draft of the "National Program for Agricultural Development from 1956 to 1967" and a Letter to Zhou Enlai

(January 7–9, 1956)

Comrade Enlai:

Over the past few days, together with responsible comrades from various regions, we have drafted on behalf of the Central Committee a "National Program for Agricultural Development from 1956 to 1967." Thirty-nine copies are now being sent to you. Some typographical errors have been corrected in one copy; please instruct the Secretariat to make corrections accordingly. It can then be distributed to members of the Political Bureau, all Central Committee members currently in Beijing, and certain other responsible comrades for their review and suggestions for revision. Before the opening of the conference on intellectuals, convene a meeting of the Political Bureau, inviting Central Committee members in Beijing and certain responsible comrades to participate (those responsible comrades from Yunnan, Guizhou, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Rehe, Beijing, and Tianjin who have come to Hangzhou this time should be invited to attend). After revisions, it can be adopted as a draft and then distributed to comrades attending the conference on intellectuals to solicit their opinions. Following further revisions, it can be issued to local Party committees down to the branch level to seek their views. The meetings here are currently for reporting on the situation and are expected to conclude around the 9th. Some comrades attending the Beijing conference can depart on the evening of the 9th or on the 10th. The Beijing conference has been rescheduled to begin on January 13, which fits the timing perfectly.

Salutations!

Mao Zedong
2:00 a.m., January 8

Some target figures still need to be filled in; after Comrade Liao Luyan returns to Beijing, they can be verified and inserted.

Comrade Enlai:

This document has undergone further revisions, primarily with the addition of Article 24 on diligent management of cooperatives and Article 40 on the worker-peasant alliance, along with several other textual modifications. After printing, I made additional textual revisions in one copy. I am now sending Gao Zhi to fly to Beijing this morning with fifty-three copies. Please instruct the Secretariat to correct the remaining fifty-two copies according to the one I have revised.

Comrades from various provinces have all requested that the draft be immediately distributed in its preliminary form to lower-level Party committees. I think this is acceptable, but I am unsure of your views. Could you convene a meeting of the Political Bureau or the Secretariat this afternoon to review this document, briefly discuss it (details can be discussed further next time), and decide whether it can be immediately issued by provincial Party committees as a preliminary draft to Party committees at all levels (excluding non-Party individuals) to solicit opinions and arrange work? Please inform me by phone before 6:00 p.m. this afternoon. Once the Political Bureau discusses and approves it as the finalized draft, it can be formally issued when notifying the provinces. Our reporting meeting here will conclude at 7:00 p.m. this evening, and I plan to depart for Beijing at 10:00 p.m. tonight.

Salutations

Mao Zedong
4:00 a.m., January 9

Attachment: Revisions to the Draft Program (Articles 3–9)

3

[Items (1) through (4) of this section are missing from the original draft.]

(5) For counterrevolutionary elements placed under the control of cooperatives for production, cooperatives shall apply the principle of equal pay for equal work, granting them their due earnings from labor.

(6) For family members of counterrevolutionary elements, as long as they have not participated in criminal activities, they shall be permitted to join cooperatives and shall receive the same treatment as ordinary cooperative members, without discrimination.

4

Vegetables are an important non-staple food. Agricultural production cooperatives shall encourage all members to grow vegetables to improve their own livelihoods. In particular, farmers in suburban areas and near industrial and mining zones shall grow vegetables in a planned manner to fully ensure the vegetable supply for cities and industrial and mining areas.

5

All agricultural production cooperatives are required, beyond the grain they consume themselves and that needed to meet state requirements, to begin in 1956 and, within twelve years, accumulate sufficient surplus grain to cover two years of consumption for emergency needs. Provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions, prefectures, counties, districts, townships, and all agricultural production cooperatives shall formulate specific plans to achieve this requirement. During the same period, the state shall also stockpile sufficient reserve grain to cover two years of consumption to meet urgent needs.

6

Initiate water conservancy projects and conserve water and soil. All large-scale water conservancy projects shall be undertaken by the state to harness severely damaging rivers. All small-scale water conservancy projects, such as digging wells, opening canals, excavating ponds, building dams, and various water and soil conservation efforts, shall be undertaken in a planned and extensive manner by agricultural production cooperatives, with state assistance provided when necessary. Through these efforts, it is required that within seven years (beginning in 1956), ordinary floods and droughts shall be essentially eliminated, and within twelve years, particularly severe floods and droughts shall be essentially eliminated.

7

When reclaiming wasteland, it must be integrated with plans for water and soil conservation to avoid the risk of soil erosion.

8

With the development of cooperative production and the increase in members' incomes, and to facilitate members' engagement in productive activities and political and cultural activities, as well as to improve their sanitary conditions, agricultural production cooperatives shall, based on need and feasibility, encourage and assist members, under the principles of voluntariness and frugality, to repair and build family residences in a prepared, planned, and phased manner.

9

Strengthen agricultural scientific research and technical guidance work, systematically establish, enhance, and improve institutions for agricultural scientific research and technical guidance.